This invention relates to shutters, and in particular to a retaining channel that is concealed from view by being located within a roof overhang soffit that is used for positioning and attaching an upper end of a storm shutter therein, and the concealed retaining channel provides for receiving a decorative trim such as a J-shaped decorative trim, that remains partially visible below the retaining channel.
Storm shutters are becoming more and more popular to protect structures from storms such as hurricanes, tornadoes, and the like. Typically, storm shutters are attached to exterior walls of structures for protecting windows by fitting the upper end of the shutter into an exposed inverted U-shaped bracket. The exposed inverted U-shaped bracket when not being used can be an undesirable eyesore because it permanently sticks out from under the soffet above the exterior windows. U.S. Pat. No. 2,738,040 to Waldin; U.S. Pat. No. 5,487,244 to Hill; U.S. Pat. No. 5,596,849 to Hill; U.S. Pat. No. 5,620,037 to Apostolo; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,768,833 to Golen show various types of storm shutter attachment techniques having visible mounting hardware.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a structure 1 with a prior art storm shutter attachment technique. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1 along arrow A. Referring to FIGS. 1-2, a structure 1 such as a house, building, and the like, uses upper brackets 40 attached to an exterior wall 30 above a window 80, and lower brackets 60 attached to an exterior wall portion 70 below the window 80 near ground level 90 to support a storm shutter panel 50. From outside the structure, the shutter mounting hardware, especially the upper bracket 40, with respective mounting fasteners such as screws, bolts, and the like, will generally always remain visible, since the shutter 50 is mounted to the wall portion 30 of the structure 1, underneath the soffet 20 which is under the roof portion 10. Typically, when the storm shutter(s) 50 are removed, the mounting hardware, especially the upper mounting bracket 40 and fasteners 42 are left on the structure 1. As earlier noted, without the storm shutters, and to a lesser extent with the shutters in place, the upper brackets 40 and respective mounting hardware is an undesirable remnant that always remains visible.
Thus, the need exists for solutions to the above problems with the prior art.
A primary objective of the invention is to provide upper mounting hardware for storm shutters that is not visible from any side of a structure on which storm shutters are mounted.
A secondary objective of the invention is to provide for mounting an upper portion of a storm shutter into a soffit overhang portion under the roof of a structure.
A third objective of the invention is to provide a concealed retaining channel assembly for mounting an upper portion of a storm shutter which accommodates a partially visible trim mold, such as a J-shaped decorative trim.
A preferred embodiment of the invention includes a novel concealed retaining channel assembly, and a novel method for installing storm shutters so that upper edges of the shutters are hidden and remain concealed within the soffit overhang portions of a roof. The novel method and system includes installing a concealed retaining channel assembly having a lower facing track within a soffet portion above an exterior window, inserting an upper edge of a shutter into the lower facing track, and covering the window with the shutter, wherein substantially all of the retaining channel assembly is concealed from an exterior side of the shutter. The novel system includes inserting a trim mold such as a J-shaped decorative trim into a side groove on the retaining channel assembly. The concealed retaining channel assembly can be attached to an exterior wall above the window with removable fasteners such as screws and bolts. The shutter can also be attached to a wall portion beneath the window by additional removable fasteners and wall mounted brackets.
Further objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of a presently preferred embodiment which is illustrated schematically in the accompanying drawings.